Your favorite robot of all time?

[barn34]

Here’s my personal list for favorite robots for the years I’ve been involved as a mentor. Some years were much harder to narrow down to a single design than others, and reasoning differs from year to year. I’m not really sure I could ever manage to narrow it down completely to a single favorite overall design.

2009 = 1625 – This was my rookie year, and the game was weird. I didn’t get too familiar with a lot of the designs this year, but one stood out in a very memorable way. It was a treat to see that huge hopper get filled with balls and then just wait for them to find their unlucky victim who was about to have their trailer engulfed. They only needed to find an opening once and a pneumatic hiss was the harbinger of the devastating swing to come on the scoreboard.

2010 = 469 - The concept behind this design was brilliant. I know they weren't the only team to think about the ball return redirect as an idea, but they were the only team to embrace it and execute it, and the results were borderline gamebreaking. I often use this robot as an example when talking with my students about outside-the-box strategic design.

2011 = 254 - Double ubertube auton, super fast floor loading, efficient elevator claw, and lightning fast minibot. Personally, I didn't like this game very much, but this was one of those robots that made it fun to watch.

2012 = 1717 – The most fun robot to watch in Rebound Rumble. Amazing swerve drive allowing them to just sweep up balls extremely fast and efficiently. Lightning fast rapid fire of the 3 balls from wherever they decided to shoot from. An amazing machine.

2013 = 1114 – One of, if not the, most challenging engineering challenges in terms of resulting robot design. We managed to package a capable corner climb and dump with an effective shooter that still allowed us to travel under the pyramid. 1114 had the same strategic capability concept, but they cranked everything up to 11 and executed it so elegantly. They cycled extremely fast and then when the time came to climb, they essentially just drove up the corner and deposited those extra disks in the top in about half the time it took us to do the same. Knowing the challenges we faced that season, the level of appreciation and respect for what they accomplished with their design cannot be understated.

2014 = 254 – Obviously, a very popular choice, and rightfully so. So much about this robot was essentially perfect. Just one of those robots where you couldn’t take your eyes off it while it was on the field. This is my personal favorite game design challenge and this is the robot that took everything about that and unquestionably played it the best. The 3 ball auton is my all-time favorite design feature capability.

2015 = 1114 – I remember playing in Arkansas week 2 and hearing rumblings of what Simbotics was showing it was able to do from the landfill in its debut the same week. As a landfill bot ourselves, we couldn’t believe what we were hearing and felt it had to be your general over exaggeration. People were passing around practice day footage like it was a bigfoot sighting and when we finally saw what they were capable of, it blew our minds. We were working hard to get 2 complete stacks and they were already clearing the landfill completely with 3 at week 2. They just got better and better as the season progressed, too. Incredible machine and one of the few that could make Recycle Rush enjoyable to watch.

2016 = 971 – The most fun robot to watch this season, and an absolutely jaw dropping design. The versatility the design features provided on the field was impressive and the effortless flow from one location and task to the next was incredible. Seeing this machine up close gave me an even greater sense of appreciation for the perfect marriage of mechanical design and controls software. Amazing machine.